Bulger defense threatens to request to have jury sequestered

Laurel J. SweetFriday, June 07, 2013

Lawyers for accused serial killer James “Whitey” Bulger today threatened to ask to have his jury sequestered for the anticipated four-month duration of his blockbuster trial, arguing the Boston Globe is poisoning the pool in its fight to free two reporters from the defense witness list.

The daunting task for culling 18 impartial jurors from a group of 858 is back under way at U.S. District Court. In a motion filed this morning with Judge Denise J. Casper, attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said he hasn’t yet sought to sequester the jury because they’re facing a big enough hardship.

However, Carney cited an article published in today’s Globe in which he accuses columnist Kevin Cullen — a potential defense witness, along with reporter and Bulger biographer Shelley Murphy — of jeopardizing the “sensitive” jury selection process with “a scathing attack not just on the defendant, but on the defendant’s family.”

Carney warned he will move for jury sequestration if “editors of the Globe do not show better judgment in the publication of columns that are designed to sell newspapers and for-profit books.”